Long live Joachim

Chapter 73: Emergence of Turning Point The sky is faintly turning white, and dawn is about to come. In the southern part of the Cohen Peninsula, tens of thousands of British troops have formed a encirclement against the landing forces of the German and Irish coalition forces. Only when our long-range heavy artillery ends the large-scale shelling of the coalition landing area, will a new wave of offensive frenzy be launched. Around the town of Abossoch, in the defense fortifications that took a day to build, in the fire shelters built using bullet craters, and on the picturesque beaches, nearly 80000 allied soldiers gritted their teeth and endured the heavy artillery bombardment from the enemy. The shaking of the mountains brought about both material and psychological devastation. Some people's spirits were shattered, and more people began to adapt to the most brutal environment of war, silently preparing for the upcoming battle. This must be an extremely brutal and bloody battle! Meanwhile, under the cover of six destroyers, three slender and imposing heavy cruisers are sailing at high speed in the southern waters of the Cohen Peninsula. The first two heavy cruisers, with the German Navy's war flag featuring a large white background and a black eagle cross pattern hanging from their towering masts, adopted a standard backpack layout with four twin mounted guns. The midship was equipped with an aircraft catapult and carried a single engine, twin wing, single seat light seaplane. These were the second-generation Prince Albert class cruisers of the German Navy, the "Prince Adalbert" and the "Friedrich Carl";The heavy cruiser behind the hall is larger in size, with a green, white, and red Irish Navy flag and a crown shield pattern hanging from its mast. Its four sets of triple mounted main guns look more stylish, with the front two turrets in a backpack layout and the rear two turrets slightly offset. The third main turret is equipped with an aircraft catapult on each side, and the second chimney has a box shaped hangar at the rear. This is the famous Danu class heavy cruiser "Nuada" of the Irish Navy. Every fleet should have its command ship, and this small fleet is no exception. However, the flagship role is not determined by the size of the warships. Under the battle flag of the leading heavy cruiser "Prince Albert" hangs a squad commander's flag and a Rear Admiral's flag, indicating that this combat formation is under the command of a German Rear Admiral. Passing through the large bend in the southern part of the Cohen Peninsula, the explosion flames on land directly entered the fleet's view. Inside the enclosed bridge of the Prince Adalbert, officers wearing dark blue double breasted military uniforms were observing the coastal situation while whispering in German. It is obvious that using battleship level large caliber artillery to bombard enemy field troops has the same effect as using a big stick to kill frogs, which is completely unequal and cruel. The weaker side has no ability to fight back. Although people had anticipated that the British army would deploy train guns on the Cohen Peninsula, they did not expect that after a day of bombing and shelling, the British train guns would arrive at the front line so quickly. Unfortunately, the Allied fleet, intimidated by the enemy's crazy attacks by lightning strikes on ships, adopted a tactical retreat and was unable to provide fire protection to the landing forces in the first place. There are two wall mounted telephones at the rear of the battle bridge dedicated to communication inside the ship, and two officers are guarding there step by step. The phone rang, and a lieutenant picked it up. He responded briefly and quickly reported to the highest commander here: Sir, the Nuada has sent a light signal suggesting that we lower our speed and carry out artillery fire from here The German officers, including the Rear Admiral with a mustache, were somewhat surprised to hear this report. But this place is still nearly thirty kilometers away from the British long-range heavy artillery Yeah, even though the enemy is within our maximum range, if we fire from here, we can't guarantee shooting accuracy at all At the current speed, we will be able to launch effective artillery fire in twenty minutes. With our forward ships keeping an eye on us, there's no need to worry about falling into the enemy's trap. Even if we encounter a large number of lightning struck ships, we won't be at a disadvantage in the daytime battle The general waved his hand, indicating that the officers should stop expressing their own opinions at this time. After everyone had closed their mouths, he slowly spoke up, "The sky is about to light up, everyone. British planes should enter the battlefield earlier than ours. The closer we are to the British hinterland, the greater the risk we take. Therefore, stopping here is indeed a wise move The thrilling night battle made the officers unconsciously regard British lightning strikes on ships as the top threat at the moment, while ignoring the air combat units that had been far away from the battlefield all night. Previously, several ships of the coalition forces were sunk and damaged by British torpedo boats and submarines in this area, but their biggest loss to date - the dreadnought "Border Governor" - was sunk by British bombers. Our current location is 28 kilometers away from Krichius, "the navigator calculated the target distance without missing the opportunity. Let's do it like this! "The general decisively gave the order. With the continuous increase of artillery range, the concept of beyond visual range shooting has long been introduced into the naval industry. In the early stages of the last major war, the German fleet had effectively engaged in beyond visual range shooting with the help of carrier based aircraft observations. However, considering shooting accuracy and combat efficiency, most subsequent naval battles were still conducted within visual range. In the decades after World War II, the German Navy served 11 heavy cruisers of four classes, with three specifications of 203mm, 240mm, and 283mm main guns tested. After repeated comparisons, the 55 caliber 203mm naval gun produced by Krupp became the standard configuration for the latest two classes of heavy cruisers, and the standard military salute class and Danu class heavy cruisers of Ireland also used this type of naval gun. According to the standard charge of the German Navy, the range of this naval gun can reach 30 kilometers at an elevation angle of 30 degrees - the maximum elevation angle of the main guns of the German Prince Albert class and Count Scheer class is 32 degrees, while the maximum elevation angles of the main guns of the Irish two classes of heavy cruisers are 32 degrees and 35 degrees, respectively, which means their maximum range is above 30 kilometers. The battle order was immediately issued, and the nine allied warships quickly reduced their speed to below 10 knots. Three heavy cruisers adjusted their course, facing northeast on the port side, and all their main guns were raised. Equipped with a unified shooting command system for the entire ship and semi-automatic loading equipment, the firepower output efficiency of the Irish heavy cruiser is undoubtedly superior. However, its biggest drawback is that it is too expensive to fabricate - the standard displacement of the Prince Adalbert class is 14500 tons, which is 4000 tons less than the Danu class, and its cost is only 60% of the Danu class. People generally believe that the Adalbert class has a higher cost-effectiveness and is a more suitable ship type for mass equipment. Leaving aside these, while the various warships were making adjustments, the Prince Adalbert sent a coded telegram to the scout destroyers ahead, requesting them to closely observe the impact points of their own artillery fire and promptly transmit the calibration data back. Everything was ready, and just as the rumbling explosion from the coast subsided, the German general made a cross on his forehead and chest. After a simple prayer, he resolutely ordered the shooting. The ultra long range shelling can be described as' a tiny mistake can lead to a thousand miles'. The British train artillery had to undergo multiple rounds of adjustment to find the target accurately, while on the other hand, the naval officers of the Allied fleet calculated the shooting parameters based on navigation charts and compasses, which were initially off guard. However, their advantage lies in the professional judgment of the lookout on the forward destroyer, who can visually observe and obtain more accurate calibration data. Moreover, if attacking targets the size of warships, the probability of hitting the ultra long range shooting is extremely low. For heavy artillery groups distributed in a certain area, the chance of artillery success is much greater. After adjusting the shooting parameters, the three coalition heavy cruisers began to enter a fast firing rhythm, and about ten minutes later, the forward destroyer sent back an exciting report: an extremely violent explosion was observed on the coast, most likely due to a large amount of ammunition being ignited by gunfire. Regardless of whether the British train artillery or the ammunition of the field artillery unit were involved in the martyrdom, this had an immediate effect on preventing the British from continuing to shell the Allied landing forces. However, the British field artillery deployed in the coastal area was completely powerless against attackers who were far beyond range, and could only watch helplessly as their heavy artillery units were ravaged - even if their own aircraft or ships reported the enemy's ship's location in real time, ground artillery would be difficult to hit distant targets in motion, let alone most of their artillery being limited by range. Seeing that the British long-range shelling had completely stopped, the three Allied heavy cruisers quickly adjusted their gun ports and launched fierce artillery fire towards the British field forces that had already resumed their attack. Outside of Abersow, the entire regiment and battalion of British infantry repeatedly attacked the beachhead defense line of the Allied landing forces under the cover of tank troops. Due to a shortage of anti tank weapons and the destruction of many fortifications during British shelling, some coalition positions were quickly breached. At the most critical moment of the situation, a British tank unit even advanced to a position two kilometers away from Abossoch, where they could threaten coalition ships that were unloading supplies by raising their guns. At a critical moment, the irretrievable Allied soldiers launched a fierce counterattack with the support of naval guns, quickly recapturing the lost position. After dawn, the air forces of both sides arrived at the battlefield on the Cohen Peninsula like dark clouds. The appearance of coalition fighter jets quickly contained the British ground attack, but the British did not retreat. Each of their field artillery positions was protected by a considerable number of anti-aircraft guns and machine guns. Moreover, whenever the British air force gained an advantage or balance of power, even temporarily, the British army on the ground would launch a new round of attacks in a timely manner, like waves rushing through the last defensive position of the coalition. At the same time, British aircraft continuously broke through the obstruction of coalition fighter jets and launched attacks on coalition ships transporting landing troops and combat supplies. The wreckage of stranded and sunken ships was scattered around the few beaches in the southern and southeastern parts of the Cohen Peninsula. The desire for victory and the mission to defend the country collide fiercely on the Cohen Peninsula. The battle on the Battle of Abossoch was unusually tense, and the Allied Command decisively deployed reserve forces - the German 4th and 6th Airborne Regiments, the Irish 2nd Airborne Battalion, and the 1st Airborne Assault Team - to parachute into Potkren in the northwest of the Cohen Peninsula. Soldiers from the German 3rd Marine Division followed suit and carried out amphibious landings here. The landing conditions in this area are not as good as those in Abersow. Heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery must be concentrated on two narrow beaches for landing, which is easily obstructed by attacks from the British Air Force. However, the situation has left the coalition with no choice.